Drink

The egg- and Sriracha-topped cheeseburger will fuel both NL and AL fans. (Photo, Delaware North)

Excess is the theme of tonight’s food menu for Major League Baseball’s All Star Game at Target Field in Minnesota.

We don’t expect to see these offerings from the Delaware North Sportservice concessionaire anytime soon at AT&T Park in San Francisco, the Oakland Coliseum, SAP Arena in San Jose or Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara — we’re all about the oh-so-trendy fare here. We’re much more likely to see booths selling pork belly bao topped with pickled vegetables.

But if you want to live vicariously through tonight’s fans, some of them will be scarfing down the Hangover Burger, which is a 10-ounce bacon cheeseburger topped with a fried egg and Sriracha sauce. And if you didn’t have a hangover before, you might have one after taking advantage of the stadium’s … yikes! … self-serve beer machines.

Think fans will cut themselves off from beer sales after the seventh inning?

Another milestone was recently reached in the continuing growth of beer with flavor in America. Yesterday, the Brewers Association announced that the number of breweries in the United States eclipsed 3,000, and as of June 2014 stood at 3,040.

Although precise numbers from the 19th century are difficult to confirm, this is likely the first time the United States has crossed the 3,000 brewery barrier since the 1870s. Wieren (1995) notes that the Internal Revenue Department counted 2,830 “ale and lager breweries in operation” in 1880, down from a high point of 4,131 in 1873.

I’m thrilled to announce that Melissa Myers’ new beer bar in Oakland, The Good Hop, will have its grand opening this Saturday, July 12, with the doors opening at the mercifully not-too-early time of 3 p.m. The Good Hop is located at 2421 Telegraph Ave. in West Oakland, near the intersection of 24th Street, just around the corner from the New Parkway Theater.

I won’t even try to be impartial here: Melissa Myers is a longtime friend of mine, and I’m excited for her to finally realize a dream of opening her own place. She’s been a brewer for many years, from Denver to Philadelphia, and in the Bay Area brewed at Magnolia, Pyramid and the old Ross Brewery (which is now Iron Springs). Now she turns her attention to choosing and serving great beer.

Curry Up Now’s first wheels-free location is in San Mateo. (John Green/Staff archives)

If you thought Curry Up Now packed ‘em in at their San Mateo and Palo Alto locations, just wait till the restaurant starts serving up its Tikka Masala Burritos and Deconstructed Samosas in North San Jose’s high-tech corridor.

On Dec. 1, the Indian street-food specialist, which started with a food truck and then expanded into brick-and-mortars, will take over an anchor tenant spot in the Retail Shops at Crescent Village on Zanker Road, according to Curry Up Now’s Blake Nesson. This location will have indoor-outdoor seating for 160 customers, making it the largest CUN restaurant to date.

Starting now, you can wash down that farmers market crepe with a crisp California sauvignon blanc. Or pair those bites of heirloom apples with hard cider.

Our colleague Josh Richman reports that California Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into a law a bill that would allow wineries and cider makers to offer tastings at farmers markets — if they themselves have grown all of the fruit in their product.Continue Reading →

We have seven cool ideas for Fourth of July salads and sides. (Mark DuFrene/Staff)

The Fourth of July barbecue is a tradition worth keeping. But the same tired old menu, not so much. Here are some great ideas for brightening up your meal:

Stars and sides forever: Forget the mayo-drenched salads in this hot weather. Eat Drink Play editor Jackie Burrell offers a refreshing assortment of alternatives, from a Watermelon Greek Salad to side dishes that utilize summer’s first corn, tomatoes and stone fruit. Check out our recipes for seven summery salads.

Five wines for the Fourth: As wine critic Jessica Yadegaran notes, most of us will be chowing down on goodies from the grill this holiday. So she’s tasted and tasted to come up with five wines to match every dish coming off those coals. Even grilled pizza.

Best ketchups — and the worst: How about an all-American ketchup taste-off ? Today’s food artisans are transforming that pedestrian condiment with a mind-boggling array of flavors. Check out Taste-Off columnist Jolene Thym’s guide to the best of the bunch on supermarket and specialty store shelves.

Space … the Final Frontier … for Beer. These are the voyages of the Starship Ninkasi. Its 8-year old mission: to brew strange new beers, to seek out new life and new civilizations to drink beer, to boldly brew where no man has brewed before.

Alright, it’s possible I’ve exaggerated a little, but Ninkasi Brewing in Eugene, Oregon announced their new Ninkasi Space Program, a collaboration with CSXT (Civilian Space eXploration Team), “a team of around 30 civilians interested in private spaceflight.” As a longtime space geek, it’s a pretty cool idea.

The California State Fair awarded the top brewers in California medals in 25 categories.

Last month, over four days the judging took place for the 19th annual California State Fair Craft Beer Competition in West Sacramento. This year, there were 859 beers entered in 25 categories of beer plus two for hard cider were entered. I judged two of the four days for this year’s competition, but missed the final two days of judging because of some scheduling conflicts. A total of 78 medals plus three honorable mentions were awarded.

OK, my Iced Grande Americano (black) went up in price 20 cents this morning, from $2.55 to $2.75, and I’m none too happy about it. But it’s tough to find an iced Americano that isn’t bitter — even the local pour-over shops and other high-end roasters I’ve tried haven’t mastered this one. So I may have to swallow hard and stick with Starbucks.

What about you and your drink of choice? When will coffee prices hit the point of brewing at home for you?

Our colleague George Kelly has surveyed the world of social media on the topic. Check out the views. And share your opinions here on the Eat Drink Play blog.

The American Homebrewers Association was founded in 1978, and has nearly 50,000 members.

For the 12th straight year, the readers of Zymurgy magazine, and members of the American Homebrewers Association, were asked to send in a list of their 20 favorite commercially available beers. With a record number of votes in the poll’s twelfth year, over 1,600 different breweries were represented in the voting.

Four of the top ten are California beers (there were seven last year), with 24 making the list of the Top 50. This is the sixth year in a row AHA members chose Pliny the Elder as the top beer. This also the fifth consecutive year that Bell’s Two Hearted Ale came in second.